"I try to keep my head on straight, and take nothing for granted"
About this Quote
“Keep my head on straight” is an old idiom with a modern job description baked in: stay oriented while everything around you is designed to disorient. Entertainment runs on feedback loops - press, auditions, social media, money arriving in weird bursts - that can make reality feel optional. Faris’s phrasing suggests a conscious resistance to the industry’s two seductions: ego (“I’m exceptional”) and fatalism (“nothing I do matters”). The middle path is the only stable one.
“Take nothing for granted” sounds wholesome until you hear the edge. In Hollywood, “granted” is what disappears without explanation: roles, relevance, relationships, even privacy. Gratitude here isn’t just politeness; it’s a hedge against volatility. The subtext is survival: stay grateful, stay grounded, stay employable. It’s a small sentence built to counter a big cultural script - that fame is a permanent state rather than a temporary lease.
Quote Details
| Topic | Gratitude |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Faris, Anna. (2026, February 19). I try to keep my head on straight, and take nothing for granted. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-try-to-keep-my-head-on-straight-and-take-38992/
Chicago Style
Faris, Anna. "I try to keep my head on straight, and take nothing for granted." FixQuotes. February 19, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-try-to-keep-my-head-on-straight-and-take-38992/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I try to keep my head on straight, and take nothing for granted." FixQuotes, 19 Feb. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-try-to-keep-my-head-on-straight-and-take-38992/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.




